The Commandments

    The Ten Commandments are listed below, quoted from Exodus 20:3-17. They present specific examples of how to love God and our neighbor; they are physical examples of exercising the spiritual intent - loving God and man - that Jesus outlined in Matthew 22:37-40.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Thou shalt not kill.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

    We can all appreciate the social and personal benefits of keeping most of these commandments. Not murdering, not stealing, not lying etc all contribute to a stable and healthy society. But the fourth commandment, to set apart the seventh day of the week as a day of rest, is different: it seemingly bears no direct social benefit, yet it still stands as a commandment from God. Should we still keep it?

   If God is real to you the answer is an obvious yes. It is God who decides what is right and wrong, and it is God who put all ten commandments in place. Remember what Jesus said:

For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:18, 19)

God considers keeping the seventh day as a day of rest, a sabbath, as a special sign between Him and His people:

I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; 20. And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. (Ezekiel 20:19,20)